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Kzinti
.]] .]] The Kzinti are a humanoid race of feline origin, native to the planet Kzin. History The Kzinti have a history of conflict with Earth, as the two planets fought a series of four wars between them. Collectively known as the Earth-Kzin Wars, Kzin was always the aggressor and Earth was always the victor. The first of which was fought sometime after first contact in 2063, and the last was concluded by the end of the 2060s. :The year of the last war's end is based on Hikaru Sulu's quote from TAS: "The Slaver Weapon". Sulu said that the war ended "200 years ago" from 2269, although he might only been approximating. Also note that in the original Niven Known Space Universe the first war was fought with sublight vessels and the Kzinti could only be defeated because of Earth acquiring FTL travel. Following the signing of the Treaty of Sirius, the Kzin government, including all Kzinti territories, were essentially demilitarized. The Kzinti were forbid from possessing any sort of weapons or starships – except police vessels, which were used solely for the purpose of peacekeeping. In 2269, Dr. Keniclius 5 cited the Kzinti's ongoing rivalry with Earth as a reason for the necessity of eugenics experiments to improve the human breed. (TAS: "The Infinite Vulcan") Later that year, Kzinti archaeologists discovered two Slaver stasis boxes on Kzin. They turned one over to Starfleet to have transferred to Starbase 25; the second they kept for themselves, only to discover that it was empty. Based on various lucrative finds in previously discovered stasis boxes, the Kzinti hoped to find a potentially powerful weapon, which they could use to defeat the Federation. Secretly supported by the Highest of Kzin, some privateers acquired a "stolen" police vessel to conduct their mission. If they were successful in their theft of the other stasis box, they would be heroes; if they failed, they would be repudiated by the Kzin government. On stardate 4187.3, a group of Kzinti privateers lured the [[Copernicus|Long-range shuttle Copernicus]] into the Beta Lyrae system, using the empty stasis box. They then captured the crew of the Copernicus on the surface of a barren ice planet, placing them in a police web aboard their privateer vessel, the Traitor's Claw. Upon inspection of the stolen stasis box, the Kzinti discovered a slaver weapon, whose functions they immediately began to test. By the time they reached the last function, the device, a sort of "smart computer", interpreted the Kzinti as enemies and self-destructed, killing three of the Kzinti privateers and severely damaging their vessel. (TAS: "The Slaver Weapon") Physiology The Kzinti are large, carnivorous, cat-like beings that stand over two meters tall. Their anatomy is extremely well reinforced, as they possess multiple hearts, and vertical bracings along their ribs. Some male Kzinti are capable of reading minds, however, psychologically, they are often unhappy and neurotic. Although there are no sure ways to prevent a Kzinti telepath from reading someone’s mind, it has been found that mental imagery of eating vegetation does dissuade them from making such attempts. (TAS: "The Slaver Weapon") Culture The Kzinti are a prejudiced, war-like species who often speak of pride and honor. Males have no respect for males of herbivorous species, such as Vulcans, or of females of any species. This lack of respect stems from the fact that on their homeworld, Kzinti females are simply "dumb animals". If a Kzinti is defeated in battle but allowed to live, that action is considered the ultimate insult. In such a case, a Kzinti must seek revenge by challenging the attacker to duel combat to before the attacked Kzinti is allowed to seek either medical assistance or reinforcements. (TAS: "The Slaver Weapon") People *Chuft Captain *Kzinti Telepath Appendices Background Unlike the other alien antagonists of "Star Trek", the Kzinti species was an original creation developed independently of the television production, well before their TAS appearance. Science-fiction author Larry Niven's Kzin were introduced as part of his "Known Space" universe in "The Warriors", a short-story published in 1966. Although Kzinti naming conventions were not explicitly discussed in "The Slaver Weapon", the naming conventions of the characters in the episode correspond to creator Larry Niven's descriptions of this in various stories. According to Niven, the Kzinti are not named at birth; they must earn their names through valorous deeds, typically that advance the interests of the patriarchy. Unnamed Kzinti have lower status, and are referred to by the name of their profession, as was Telepath. Single named Kzinti have distinguished themselves in some manner. They often follow their awarded name with the name of their profession, as did Chuft Captain. Kzinti can accumulate multiple names if they continue to perform valorously. The Kzinti made no further appearance in Star Trek after "The Slaver Weapon", and a brief mention in "The Infinite Vulcan". A female felinoid seen in Star Trek V was referred to in backstage information as a "Kzinretti". Further, a star map seen in several TNG episodes has a planet on it named "Kzin", and an unseen species mentioned in DS9: "The Adversary" were called "Tzenkethi", a near-anagram of "The Kzinti". The Kzinti also made brief appearances in the to Star Trek comic newspaper comic strip The Wristwatch Plantation by Sharman DiVono and Larry Niven with art by Ron Harris. The story involved Kzinti starting an invasion in the 2270s. The authors considered to publish the story as a novel or comic book, but this did not happen. Kzinti starship.]] It has been recently disclosed that if Star Trek: Enterprise had been renewed for a fifth season, Manny Coto wanted to do a Kzinti episode. Talk about the episode progressed to the point that a "rough rendering" of a Kzinti starship was produced for possible use. The artist Josh Finney said that he was "... commissioned by writer Jimmy Diggs to design an 'Enterprise' era Kzinti cruiser as part of an overall pitch to Paramount." He further said "As for my ship design, truth be told, Paramounts people would've probably re-designed it a billion times before it hit the screen. But, still, I would've at least provided the starting point for the concept." It is notable that the concept design of the Kzinti vessel draws considerably from the Kzinti fleet as presented in the Star Fleet Universe, which have a similar layout to the design shown, including the same triple warp nacelle layout and pod-mounted drone (missile) launchers - as can be seen at Wikipedia. Apocrypha ;Kzinti in novels: Star Trek Log 5 by Alan Dean Foster begins with a flashback scene of M'Ress' career in Starfleet. Among one of the events is her time as a junior communications officer aboard the ''Hood'': The starship was attacked by a Kzinti cruiser killing all of the bridge crew including the chief engineer and crippling several systems including engines and communications. M'Ress who speaks little Kzinti volunteers to beam over to the cruiser which was disabled in the counter attack. The Kzinti are sending a distress call to their homebase which needs to be cut off and M'Ress' further plan is to recode it to send an own distress to a Federation starbase. Her actions resulted in a promotion to lieutenant after just two years of service and the transfer to the Enterprise. The battle was establishen in M'ress' biography by Lincoln Enterprises where it is stated she entered Starfleet just three years ago, placing the event in 2266. The novelisation of "The Terratin Incident" (in Star Trek Log 4), too mentiones Kzinti, when Kirk ponders about the Edoans' ongoing neutrality despite the warlike Klingons, Romulans and Kzinti. In "The Worlds of the Federation" by Shane Johnson, Kzinti are mentioned in the Caitian entry: It is speculated that Caitians are the decendents of an old Kzinti colony. Caitians are described as peaceful in nature contrary to their assumed cousins. These data points reflect the information first published in M'ress' biography by Lincoln Enterprises. The Pocket TOS novel "Ishmael" by Barbara Hambly contains a throw away line to the Kzinti: The Starbase's commanding officer, Maria Kellogg, served as chief engineer of the ''Republic'' before in her career. She was one of six Human crewmembers, the rest were Orions, Kzinti and Trisk. (Revealed in Chapter 7; story might be set during end of the five-year mission.) Later Kellogg and Kirk pass two Kzinti in the corridors of the station. Kellogg greats them in their native tounge. (Revealed in Chapter 13.) The Pocket TNG novel "The Captains' Honor" by David and Daniel Dvorkin features carnivourous felinoids called M'Dok. It is not unlikely the race was intented to be the Kzinti. ;Kzinti in the Star Fleet Universe: The Kzinti race in the Star Fleet Universe – who have traits setting them apart from other continuties (cat ears, sentient females, Kzinti/Kzintis as singular/plural etc.) from the Kzin of Niven's works – has fought wars with all of their neighbors, the Federation, the Klingon Empire and their perennial nemesis, the Lyran Star Empire. They are long-standing allies – or more accurately, co-belligerents – of the Hydran Kingdoms. The Kzinti Hegemony eventually formed a tentative accord with the Federation, and allied with them in the General War, but they have been involved in major wars with the Klingons and Lyrans, such as the Four Powers War and the General War itself, in which a substantial region of their territory was occupied by their Coalition enemies and two full-scale assaults were made on the Kzinti homeworld of Kzintai. Eventually with Federation assistance they forced the Coalition forces from their territory, but after the War ended they were involved in a Civil War as a disgruntled faction – which had been opposed to the Hegemony's ruling Patriarch and sought refuge and developed a power base in the WYN Cluster, launched an attempted coup of the Hegemony itself in the WYN War of Return. Also, in the fictional variant of the Star Fleet Universe as represented in the games Star Trek: Starfleet Command II: Empires at War and Star Trek: Starfleet Command - Orion Pirates from Taldren, the Kzinti were renamed and re-interpreted as the more canine Mirak. External links * * * Kzinti culture at the semi-official homepage of Kzinti creator Larry Niven * Encyclopedia of Known Space * * Mirak race description at Taldren's site Category:Species de:Kzinti